Public works crews have been busy as colder temperatures have resulted in a spike of water main breaks.
Since the start of January, there have been about two dozen water main breaks in Sarnia.
General Manager of Engineering and Operations David Jackson said so far, it's been a busier winter than the last few years.
"We're at 23 main breaks so far, just related to the extreme cold that we haven't seen for a while," said Jackson. "We typically average around 100 over the entire year, so too soon to tell where that will go, but busier this year than we've been for a number of years."
He said the bitter cold has made repairs a little more challenging for the public works crew.
"I mean just being out there in that cold, we just go out for a little bit and you can feel that biting cold," said Jackson. "So it is challenging being out in that working environment, the ground starts to freeze and it's a little harder to dig, the restoration is a bit more challenging. But, we get the work done and the restoration is temporary. We'll come clean it up once the weather gets better."
Jackson adds when temperatures are this cold, salt becomes much less effective and areas with ice may not improve until temperatures warm up a bit.
In the meantime, he said the city has added some sand into the mix for higher risk locations to provide additional traction.
"Anytime in the winter when people can keep their vehicles off the road, just makes it easier for our crews," said Jackson. "Even when it's not actively snowing, we're often going out just to salt areas again and so it's nice to have clear roads, makes it easier to do that."